Ten refugees who arrived in Lithuania from Syria and Iraq on Friday, July 29, under the European Union‘s resettlement programme will get more Lithuanian classes to speed up the integration.

Press Interior Vice-Minister Justas Pankauskas says that the two refugee families have been resettled from Greece. For the first several months, the migrants will be placed at the Rukla Refugee Reception Centre for initial phase of integration, until the Migration Department makes the decision on their asylum status.

With the EU‘s resettlement program having reached its midway point, Lithuania faces the challenge of taking in more than a thousand refugees from Middle East within slightly more than a year and successfully integrating people from a culture that is unfamiliar to most Lithuanians. Lithuania has until now been slow in implementing the program, under which it pledged to accept 1,105 migrants over two years.

A mere 39 people have been relocated to the country since the launch of the program almost a year ago. That means that Lithuania still has to take in more than a thousand people from Middle East to fully implement the program by September 2017. The authorities are set to devote more attention and resources to teaching refugees the Lithuanian language, a key challenge in their integration process.

Special services charge chief veterinary officer

Lithuania‘s Special Investigation Service has brought suspicions of abuse of powers against the country‘s chief veterinary officer Jonas Milius. The service said it suspected that the top executives of an unidentified food product company sought to bribe various individuals who could help it to avoid penalties that are normally imposed for violating the rules of occupational safety, packaging, labelling, hygiene or other. On Thursday, July 28, security agents searched offices of Milius and MP Petras Gražulis. Procedural actions were also conducted in offices of Judex food production company, which also employs Gražulis‘ relatives. Milius said that minor exports violations had been established at the company in an investigation a year ago.

Lidl mulls selling more Lithuanian products

German-owned retailer Lidl Lietuva could sell more Lithuanian production in Lithuania and other European countries, says CEO Radostin Roussev-Peine, adding that surveys would be needed.

«We were talking about that we have already started our work in Lithuania and we will start to form our assortment for our customers. We would like to increase the amount of products from Lithuanian suppliers – we are talking about dairy, fruit and vegetable and meat sectors. These are the main points,» Roussev-Paine said after meeting with Lithuania’s Agriculture Minister Virginija Baltraitienė.

In his words, Lidl would want to sell Lithuanian products elsewhere in Europe but surveys would be needed about the types and amounts of products that can be sold. After opening in Lithuania in early June, Lidl Lietuva already operates 16 stores across the country and is set to expand the network, which mainly sells Polish production but also features German goods and a very small amount of Lithuanian products.

Land plot found for Russian ambassador‘s residence

A land site is envisaged for the Russian Embassy in the prestigious Valakupių neighborhood in Vilnius for construction of an ambassadorial residence.

«We expect to complete the talks before the end of this year,» the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, July 27.The state is first expected to take over two farm buildings on Melynių Street from the Vilnius municipality. Later on, the land site, which is located further from the guarded territory of residences of Lithuania’s state leaders, could be allocated for the construction of the Russian ambassador‘s residence. Signing of the international agreement on the terms and conditions of the settlement of embassies would invalidate the earlier treaty, which regulates the use of premises close to the residences of Lithuanian leaders in Turniškės by Russian diplomats.

Lithuania hands note to Belarus over new nuclear plant incident

Lithuania‘s government on Thursday, July 28, handed a note to the Belarusian Embassy over the latest incident at the Astravyets Nuclear Power Plant under construction in Belarus close to the Lithuanian border. Vilnius has also asked Brussels for involvement of the European Union (EU) in the matter. Ludo Segers Belarus‘ chargé d‘affaires Lyudmila Tatarinovich was summoned to the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Hoops star accredited to Olympics despite ads controversy

Lidl‘s advertising campaign in Lithuania has not barred Arvydas Sabonis, president of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation, from getting accreditation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. There was some doubt about the Lithuanian basketball legend’s accreditation because of a ban on using the name and image of athletes, coaches or officials participating in the Olympic Games for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games. The so-called Rule 40 blackout period began nine days before the opening ceremony. Lidl, which is not an Olympic sponsor and is a competitor to the retail chain Maxima, a sponsor of the Lithuanian National Olympic Committee (LNOC), did not suspend its advertising campaign which features Sabonis.

U.S. ambassador ends term in Vilnius

Deborah McCarthy has completed her tenure as United States ambassador to Lithuania. She served as US ambassador to Lithuania since 2013 and will be replaced by Anne Hall who will come to Lithuania in late September or early October. In the meantime, the U.S. embassy in Vilnius is headed by Chargé D‘affaires Ad Interim Howard Solomon. Hall, a career diplomat, has been acting principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the US Department of State since 2014.

Over one fifth of Lithuanians face misery

Some 640,000 of Lithuania‘s population, or 22.2 per cent, were below the poverty risk line in 2015, up by 3.1 points year-on-year, according to a survey of incomes and living conditions carried out by the country‘s statistics office. The at-risk-of-poverty threshold last year was defined as living on a 259 euro monthly income for a single person and 574 euro for a family of two adults and two children under 14 years of age, Statistics Lithuania said on Wednesday, July 27. Neither minimum wage legislation, nor retirement pensions did much to alleviate poverty of some people, according to the press release.

Lithuania wants to buy out FSRU vessel

If Lithuania secured EU funding for the Klaipeda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, it could begin talks with Norway‘s Hoegh LNG to purchase the terminal’s vessel before the 10-year lease contract expires in 2024, Energy Minister Rokas Masiulis said. The minister says that talks with the European Commission on EU support for the LNG terminal has been ongoing for a year and a half now, noting that the discussion is very difficult because the EU‘s executive body normally does not provide aid for implemented projects. According to unofficial information, Lithuania seeks around 100 million euros in support from the Commission.

Lithuania‘s wind power output surges

Wind power generation in Lithuania soared by 53.5 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2015, according to figures from the electricity transmission system operator Litgrid. Experts attribute the strong growth to new wind turbines going online. Wind turbines generated a total of 456.7 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity in Lithuania in January through June, up from 297.5 GWh in the same period last year and 268.8 GWh in the first half of 2014.Wind power accounted for 49.5 percent of all electricity generated in Lithuania in the first half of 2016.According to Litgrid, the country‘s annual wind power output last year totalled 806.3 GWh, making up 19 per cent of the country‘s total electricity production.

Kaunas mayor discharged after heart surgery

Kaunas Mayor Visvaldas Matijošaitis has been discharged from hospital after undergoing a heart surgery, the local authority of Lithuania‘s second-biggest city announced on Thursday, July 28. Matijošaitis, 59, will now start a 20-day rehabilitation program in the seaside resort of Palanga.

Members of the European Parliament have overwhelmingly supported what has been negotiated upon in the joint EU-UK progress report in Brexit talks and have recommended Brussels to move on to phase two negotiations on the future relations of the parties.

The silent period – the time for Christmas wishes – has begun. Snow covers Tukums, and the city slowly becomes white. Everything is quiet at Pils ielā. The phone rings, interrupting a quiet moment of watching snowflakes fall under the light of a lantern. «You’re here for us, aren’t you?» BNN goes to interview manager of Merci Cafe Anija Rabkeviča (23) and cafe’s founder Rinalds Pluģis (22). They tell about their experience of ‘surviving’ in Latvia.

Latvian Transport Ministry’s developed development plan for the transit industry, which was presented to Saeima’s National Economy Committee this week, states that raising competitiveness in the country requires subsidizing railway cargo transports.

Only political discussions were held proposal on the merge between Latvijas Mobilais Telefons and Lattelecom, and it is good that this matter has been taken off the agenda, said LMT President Juris Binde in an interview to Rīta Panorāma programme of LNT.

In the Estonian capital, the result of a legal dispute between water utility company Tallinna Vesi and the Estonian Competition Authority is that consumers are considered to be able to claim tens of millions of euros in compensation for overcharged water tariffs that have been in place for a number of years.

It was decided at a meeting of representatives of Latvian Association of Regions (LAR) that the party will not work with For Latvia’s Development. The party has also decided to start in 13th Saeima elections with its own list of candidates.

Italy has declared a state of emergency in its natural gas sector as a large explosion at a major natural gas hub in Austria killed one person, injured at least 18 and is prone to affect supplies in central Europe.

«To maintain GDP growth rate, the government should address priority matters like prevention of mandatory procurement component costs and electricity price rise to reduce costs for both businesses and residents. It is very important for employers to have the energy policy closely tied with production, because processing industry is the main driving force behind development of Latvia’s national economy,» says Latvian Employers’ Confederation (LEC) Director General Līga Meņģelsone.

The clients of Irish low-fare airline Ryanair will face inconvenience before Christmas as pilots and crew announced industrial action seeking to achieve union recognition and better conditions in the company, which is criticised by unions that it fails to offer pilots the same pay and conditions as its rivals.

Money laundering activities and grey economy are in decline in Latvia. However, corruption in the country’s public sector and smuggling activities remain serious problems for the national economy, as noted in the report on unaudited economy, corruption in the public sector and money laundering activities in Latvia published by Latvian Chamber for Commerce and Industry on Tuesday, 12 December.

Former Georgian President, now opposition activist in Ukraine, Mikheil Saakashvili, has been released from arrest by a judge, who denied a request from prosecutors to subject him to house arrest, but the case against him continues.

Latvia’s Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnačs has met with his Macedonian colleague Bilen Saliji, who arrived in Latvia to sign the Memorandum for Cooperation between Latvian Justice Ministry and Macedonian Justice Ministry.

The majority or 65% of Latvian respondents mentioned that whenever they make travel arrangements, they try to avoid regions in which there is a high probability of terrorist attacks or natural catastrophes, according to the latest Latvia Tours Travel Index.

The only offer extended to the now former state secretary of Latvia’s Interior Affairs Ministry Ilze Pētersone-Godmane to help her stay in state administration was the offer to become a candidate for the most of head of Riga Eastern Clinical University Hospital, as reported by Latvijas Avīze.

«Latvia continues supporting the solution that can be achieved through direct talks between Israel and Palestine with compliance of interests of both sides and making Jerusalem the capital of both countries. The European Union has to remain a reliable partner for Israel and Palestine. We have to continue the open dialogue with both sides and ensure EU’s unity in the Middle East peace process,» says Latvian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s parliamentary secretary Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica.

Countryside tourism businesses are threatened by unfair competition and growing bureaucracy, as emphasized by Latvian Countryside Tourism Association Lauku ceļotājs after discussing this season’s results at four regional business seminars.

As Estonia seeks to relocate part of government agencies out of the capital Tallinn, Estonian government ministers have been reminded that by the middle of January an action plan is required from them on the relocation of the central offices of 13 Estonian state institutions.

The volume of exports continued growing in November, reaching EUR 1,070,600 at the end of the month and setting a new record for exports for one month’s time. This export index is the highest in the history of statistical records in Latvia, Finance Ministry stated in its report, commenting on data from the Central Statistical Bureau.

Governments of European Union member states are aware of torture and abuse of refugees and migrants in Libya, Amnesty International has stated, insisting that trying to reduce migration, the EU is actively financially supporting a «system of abuse and exploitation» on the Mediterranean coast of Libya.